Mizzou ArenaMizzou Tigers

Mizzou Arena is located in Columbia Missouri. It is the basketball arena for the University of Missouri. It is home to the Mizzou Tigers men’s and women’s basketball teams. The arena was known as Paige Sports Arena during construction and a short time after it opened. Mizzou Arena opened in 2004 and replaced the school’s main indoor facility Hearnes Center. The arena has the seating capacity of 15,061 and its playing surface is hardwood.
Mizzou Arena has a dedicated bleacher section for the student’s that is behind the west end basket of approximately 3,000 seats. The arena features men and women’s locker rooms, weight and training facilities including a hydrotherapy pool, practice gym, video classroom and an academic study center.
The cost to build the arena was 75 million. A third of that cost was donated by Walmart heir Nancy Walton Laurie and her husband Bill Laurie, who were given the naming rights in doing so. They then named the arena after their daughter Elizabeth Paige Laurie. The daughter did not attend the University of Missouri. It was revealed shortly after the arena opened the Paige Laurie paid to have her homework done causing criticizism beyond her not having attended Mizzou. The Laurie’s then gave up the naming rights in 2004 and the University removed all mention of Elizabeth Paige Laurie except what was required to mention the Laurie’s donation. The naming rights were returned back to the University who named the arena Mizzou Arena.